Query: Earliest use of intertitles--two responses

From: McKernan, Luke <[email protected]>

I think G.A. Smith's Santa Claus (1898) may be the earliest surviving film
with titles (an opening title at least):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=Dc3ei1tseeM. The print of
L'affaire Dreyfus on Europa Film Treasures does not have titles (it has
modern ones):
http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/365/see-the-film-programme_the_dreyfus_affair

Luke
********************
Dr Luke McKernan
Lead Curator, Moving Image
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
Tel: 020 7412 7442
Fax: 020 7412 7441
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.bl.uk
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From: Dellmann, S. (Sarah) <[email protected]>

My colleague Claire Dupré La Tour has worked extensively on intertitles in
early cinema, you can find some of her works on intertitles on her website:

http://www.uu.nl/hum/staff/CMSDupreLaTour

I believe she would know - her contact details are also available on that
website. From discussions with her I learned that "earliest use" is a
question of definition of intertitles: Do you mean titles in-between film
scenes? Or written text projected on the same screen, eventually form
lantern slides? Or texts that are integrated in the film footage and sold
with the film by the production company?

Good luck for your research,
All the best,

Sarah Dellmann